The present invention relates to domain name sharing on both the World Wide Web and electronic mail. In particular, the present invention is applicable to domain sharing at the top level domain address without reduced designation and provides for e-mail autonomy including concurrently using generic e-mail addresses.
Most people believe that an accurate association of an entity's name with their web site and e-mail addresses is necessary. The less intuitive this association is the more error prone it is. No company wants its customers to be visiting the web sites of others having a similar name instead of reaching its site. This is particularly problematic for a company when another party has the domain name (and accompanying web site) that is most likely to be guessed by its customers.
The domain name system as it has evolved has made domain names into global identifiers. Domain name policy, as it has been crafted and applied, has created the notion that domain names reflect trademarks and, that only one trademark can be recognized per domain name. This notion, together with widespread marketing of multiple domain name registrations as a trademark protection strategy, has resulted in fierce competition for a limited resource.
It has also created many ethical and legal dilemmas in the marketplace. On the one hand, American and other sovereign Trademark laws accommodate multiple entities having the same registered mark without threat of dilution. On the other hand, domain names offer only one identical name per extension and have been marketed since the beginning on a first-come-first-served basis. This has necessarily created fear of loss for trademark owners. Further, because domain names have been embraced as global identifiers, consumer confusion over a trademark holder's domain name is just as threatening as dilution under trademark law.
Some others have tried to solve this problem by introducing legislation or domain name policy, but this has not solved the problem. There are still millions of cases where more than one party—indeed, often many parties—have rights to the same moniker and would like to have use of the corresponding domain name.
Another attempt to solve this problem has been to introduce new domain names into the marketplace by way of adding new top level domain extensions. It was hoped that someone who could not get a certain domain name in the .com extension would have a chance to acquire it in the new extension. However, this has provided little or no solution since the holders of trademarks have had first dibs in the registration process, scooping up all similar sounding domain names prior to the names being available on the open market. Moreover, the length of time it took to bring any new extensions to the marketplace has meant that the .com extension necessarily enjoys a de facto brand name status and remains the most desired. Clearly, there exists a need for a solution.
There is a need to reframe the way in which domain names are regarded as unique identifiers.
For the domain name consumer, the desire to be first to register a domain name, or to otherwise acquire it, is typically not with the motive to prevent others having the same moniker, but rather, to ensure that they are not shut out themselves. Accordingly, there is a need for domain naming solutions that are inclusive in nature rather than exclusive or punitive.
There is a need for a domain naming solution which can be broadly successful in the marketplace. That is, it must: recognize the customers' desire to have an intuitive domain name address; acknowledge and respect the rights of both common law and registered trademark holders; incorporate the wisdom and scope of sovereign trademark laws which allow for multiple registrants of the same mark; be use-intuitive and technically sound; and, work across multiple roots. Attempted solutions to date have failed to accomplish this.
Prior to the widespread use of computers and the commercialization of the internet for e-commerce, the idea of domain sharing would have been ridiculous. Locally, regionally, nationally and, certainly internationally, unaffiliated businesses or other entities who happen to use the same moniker or who own the same registered mark have no history of sharing a common access point to their goods or services merely because they have a name in common. While telephone directories (which are usually local), because of the alpha numerical layout, may list them sequentially, these entities share no common phone numbers or addresses merely because they have the same name. There is no marketplace history of those with the same marks or monikers locating together physically, or in a computer networked environment, for ease of consumer access, nor of advertising together for co-branding of the name.
Indeed, today the idea of two or more entities sharing a domain name for their comprehensive Internet presence identifiers is still novel. Yet, there is global recognition that the existing system does not fully satisfy the internet identification and location needs of internet users.
Therefore, there is a need for a domain name sharing solution that preserves unique identification, while embracing multi-party domain name use, such that both the requirements of the DNS addressing system and the scope of trademark and tradename use are compatible. There is a need for domain name sharing that functions for both the world wide web and e-mail, not just for one or the other. Further, there is a need for sharing at the top level domain address without reduced designation and, e-mail autonomy including the co-use of generic mail addresses.